Long Lost
by Sunrise-Escapist
Summary: Katherine, compelled to remain in the tomb, is visited by the last person she ever expected. / Oneshot.


**A\N: **Just something I was thinking about whilst rewatching the vampire diaries. I don't own anything.

* * *

"Dear, you don't have to do this," Elijah mentions, coming to stand behind her. He's wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close and she smiles into the kisses he's peppering along the length of her neck. "She doesn't deserve your presence."

She knows this, of course.

"She's my sister, 'Lijah," She sighs, craning her neck to meet his lips. "I know I don't owe her anything but, she owes me."

He nods his head in agreement and reluctantly, allows her to step out of his arms so she can head out.

"Besides," She calls over her shoulder with a smirk. "I've been waiting to gloat for a long time and what better chance than when she's incapable of escape?"

His response is merely to share in her good humor and chuckle. And she's out the door before he could try and persuade her to stay another five minutes—just enough time to talk her out of her clothes and back into their bed.

**xXx**

She finds the tomb easily enough—cringes slightly at the dank smell, mingled closely with that of centuries-old rotted flesh. Her heels clink against the rocks until she comes to stand directly in front of the entrance to the tomb. The door that is made to close it off had previously been moved and she could plainly see into the darkness. She needn't wait long; it seemed her sister had been waiting for her, too.

"I was wondering when you were gonna show up. Elijah was all too pleased with himself after he compelled me to remain in the tomb—now I see why. It was all a ploy."

She did not agree nor disagree. Merely smiled.

"Hello, Katerina," She says.

Katherine's eyes darken and she spits her name out like venom. "_Mary_."

She cocks her head to the side curiously—her long, dark locks fall to one side.

"You seem tense. Tomb not treating you well?"

Her sister scoffs, rolling her eyes. She was leaning into the wall, most likely from blood deprivation. Of course, no one was feeding her down here.

She ignores her snide remark and instead, asks, "How long have you been back? I imagine you're back with my sloppy seconds again."

Mary chuckles humorlessly. She figured Katherine would bring that up again.

"You're so predictable, sister. You haven't changed a bit."

"It's true, isn't it? We both know Elijah had eyes for me first."

Only until she walked into the picture. She doesn't bring that up though.

"I would think you'd be a little nicer to me—since I'm your only ticket out of this god-awful prison." She says this offhandedly as if merely discussing the weather and it immediately catches her sister's attention.

"You'd be willing to speak with Elijah to let me out?"

No, but it was funny to witness the look on her face in thinking so. Mary smirks sardonically and Katherine instantly deflates.

"Even after all these years, you're still upset with me." It wasn't a question and Mary did not take it as one. Katherine continued, "Haven't we been through this before? I had to run, okay?! Klaus was after me! He would've _killed _me!"

Still, Mary remained silent.

"I'm sorry, alright? Is that what you want me to say? I'm sorry!" She's nearly hysterical now and Mary's facadé nearly drops.

Mary shakes her head, attempting to keep her composure.

"I'm not upset with you, Katerina. We're family—how can I be?" She pauses, allowing Katherine to follow along before narrowing her gaze sharply. "But you left me to _rot, _sister. If not for Elijah pleading with his brother on my behalf, _I _would've been killed for your treachery."

Katherine was tightlipped and Mary continued.

"I supported you through _everything_, Katherine. I was there to lie to mother and father about your indiscretions. When you gave birth out of wedlock and banished from Bulgaria, who was there to follow you under protest from our parents? _Me_. It was you and I, sister. And what did you do? You abandoned me! And all because of what? You were scared?"

"I—"

Mary immediately stops her, hissing, "_I _was scared! _I _could have died! And you don't even _care_!"

Katherine fell silent after that, her head falling slightly so her hair could cover her cowardly face. Despite the profuse apologies earlier, her sister had seemingly lost her voice now and offered no further regret for her actions. Not that Mary expected her to.

Clicking her tongue, Mary stepped forward and crossed her arms over her chest.

"It's okay though. Really, I'm over it." She was smiling now—a smile so rueful yet wicked. "I find it hilarious how karma has caught up to you, even after all this time. I suppose there is a God."

Truthfully, walking into the lion's den to speak with Katherine was not a part of her plan. She'd originally came back to Mystic Falls to see her beloved and learn more about this doppelgänger that's been exposed—curiosity and all that. But when she found out that Elijah had compelled Katherine to remain in the tomb after finding herself in the magically-induced prison, well—she couldn't pass up the chance to laugh in her face; and tell her off a little.

What Katherine had done had wounded her deeply. She would have never even thought to do something so heinous to her sister. But she was grateful, in a way. It just showed who this woman really was and that family only ran so deep. Elijah was her family now—all of the Mikaelson's. And though Elijah was currently at odds with his brother, she knew the time would come when Always and Forever came back into play; and she would be there for all of it. Because _that's _what family does.

"Are you just going to leave me down here to rot?" Katherine snidely asks, glaring at her sister from across the threshold of the tomb.

Mary's eyes glance from every corner of stone surrounding her before dark eyes finally land on her sister. She smiles, "I wouldn't _dream _of it. But perhaps a decade or two—or even a century—will allow you time to think about what you left behind."

She doesn't mention her niece, Katherine's daughter—whom she'd been keeping tabs on in Katherine's place. As far as she was concerned, her daughter lived and died as a human, and it would remain that way (per Nadia's request) only when she was ready to seek out her mother herself. While Mary did not fault Katherine for her inability to find and care for her sole daughter, she didn't actually fight for her, either. Something she and Nadia were able to bond over.

Either way, a healthy several decades oughta straighten her sister out. If she even _could _be straightened out. And at least she would know where to find her when the time came for mother and daughter to finally meet.

She headed back towards the stairs; Katherine screaming behind her. Mary paused on the step, glancing over her shoulder with a look similar to how her sister looked at her before she fled the castle all those years ago.

"I am sorry, Katerina," She wasn't. "Better you than I."


End file.
